


The Beginnings

by SilverSlider



Series: Veterans of Earth [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, POV Original Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 07:27:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9224900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverSlider/pseuds/SilverSlider
Summary: Operations Chief Victor Malkin is more than surprised, when he's selected for the new project of the Alliance. The SSV Normandy. He didn't expect, that this would be the start of a long battle against a seemingly invincible enemy.





	

**Author's Note:**

> So this will be my first story to celebrate the incoming Mass Effect: Andromeda. All rights are with Bioware of course. I hope you'll enjoy my little version of the Mass Effect trilogy and maybe help me to improve. I'm not a native english speaker, so please excuse some grammar and vocabulary mistakes, I'll try to avoid them, but some could slip past

Chapter 1

I rose in his bad as soon as my alarm went off.Scratching my forehead I put on a plain, gray T-shirt with the alliance symbol and left my quarters yawning.

As soon I left the Room, Iwas greeted by another soldier. “Sir, the Captain wants to speak with you.”, he quickly said, saluting, while I nodded and pushed quickly past him.

“Well, let's find out, what he wants.”, I responded, a cold smile building on my face. The soldiers almost jumped into the quarters, while I took the stairs up to the captains cabin.

The change of shifts was just happening, so the ships corridors were crowded. While passing through the CIC I raised a hand to greet a good friend on board the ship. It was unlikely she would see this, so I continued sighing and after pushing past other workers, reached the captains quarter. The door opened as soon as I was near it and the Captain quickly looked up.

“Chief Malkin, have a seat.”, the Captain greeted him, while pointing at the chair in front of his desk. I quickly sat down and eyed the Captain suspiciously. Why would he send for me? But I soon recognized my personal records on the datapad lying on the desk. My eyes widened and I started blinking rapidly, shaking my head. No, not again.

“You send for me, Sir?”, I asked, rubbing his neck. I already knew what was coming. I'm going to be redeployed yet again.

“Yes. Well I'm not happy with this, because you're a god damn good soldier and you're an enrichment for my crew, but you will be redeployed to another ship.”, the Captain quickly explained, pressing his teeth together. I went pale and sighed, then stood up and started pacing through the captains office. I wanted to say something, but I couldn't find the right words. After a minute of silence, the Captain raised his voice again.

“I know, the last years weren't easy for you. You were redeployed to seven different ships in the last five years.”, he said, sounding a little bit sad about my coming departure. “But I think you won't have a problem settling in the new ship. Captain Anderson has a good reputation. He treats his soldiers well.”

I instantly stopped. Captain Anderson? This cant be true. I went back to the Captains desk and looked at him with a certain amount of disbelieve in my eyes.

“Captain _Anderson_ , Sir? The Captain of this new ship? The Normandy?”, I asked. The Captain nodded quickly.

“Yes. Well you must have impressed someone up there to gain such an opportunity. We'll reach Arcturus in two hours. The crew knows of you're departure and you are expected at landing bay 85 B. I wish you the best, Chief Malkin.”, he said, standing up and we quickly shook each others hand.

“It was an honor serving under you, sir!” , I answered saluting.

“Likewise, Chief Malkin.”, the Captain responded, also saluting.

I quickly left the Captain's quarters, making my way to my bunk bag and started packing my stuff, when I realized I was being watched. I looked up.

“So, you're really going to another ship yet again?”. Marlene, a girl I knew back from his training and my best friend on this ship, said with sagging shoulders.

“Yeah. But I think it's going to be different this time. I'm going to serve on the Normandy, Marly”, I cheered while stuffing my clothes into the bag. Marlene sat down on the bunk bed besides me, sighing and started fiddling with her hands.

“Well, Congratulations. It's gonna be hell of a lot less fun here without you.”, she stated.

“You're going to be fine.”, I answered, putting a hand on her knee and smiling reassuringly. “Besides, you can finally start running me down with the others as soon as I leave”

“Oh, you can bet your life on it. Someone finally answered my prayers!”, she joked and started to smile a little bit.

“I will stay in touch. You don't get rid of me that fast!” I grinned, but looked sadly at the floor.

It's going to be weird without her, because we both joined the Marines at the same time, we went through training together, we were a team on Torfan, we were redeployed to the same ships all the years. And now it was the first time, we were really separated from each other.

“So, who did you bribe to get a spot on the Normandy anyway?”, she asked curiously, resting her elbows on her thighs.

“Well, to be perfectly honest, I don't even know. I never spoke to Captain Anderson.”, I answerd truthfully, while zipping up the bag. “But I'm going to say my goodbyes now. Meet me at the air lock when we reach Arcturus, OK?”

Marlene nodded, standing up herself, then left the quarters again. The rest of the flight I used to bid farewell to all people on the ship I knew, what turned out to be almost the whole crew. I served almost a year on the SSV Okinawa, the longest time I served on any of the ships, and it was a good time, although it got boring over the months. After we docked at Acturus, I made my way up to the armory and put on my navy blue alliance armor. I made his way to the air lock, carrying my helmet under the arm, the bag in my other hand. Marlene waited as expected.

“So, it's farewell then.”, I said sadly. It's hard for me to leave her on this ship. Marlene ran her fingers through her red hair

“After all these years.”, she said and I wasn't sure, but I thought her eyes started to water up, when she quickly looked away.

“Hey, It's gonna be OK! As I said, I'll keep in touch. And when we're both on leave, I'm going to buy you a drink and a nice meal!”, I said, putting the bag down and my hand on her shoulder while grinning reassuringly.

“I'll take you up on that!”, Marlene responded, a sad smile on her face. Suddenly she pulled me into a hug. “I'll write you, when I'm free.”

We lasted in this position for almost a minute, then she slowly backed away . I picked up the bag again, saying my final goodby to her, then left through the airlock.

* * *

 

 

After wandering around the station for a short time, I finally found the landing bay, which was guarded by a single alliance soldier. This soldier stood in front of the door, as soon as I started to walk towards it.

“Restricted Area. Please step aside, Sir!”, he said in a strict tone.

“Operations Chief Victor Malkin, service number: OC21VM564712. I'm here by commands of Captain Anderson.”, I stated and saluted. The soldier started contacting someone and shortly after stepped aside.

“The Captain is on board.”, he simply said while opening the door. I went through the door and to the Normandy, the one-of-a-kind prototype, which looked pretty impressive. You could see, the ship was designed in cooperation with the turian hierarchy. I approached the air lock after whistling and after a short decontamination, the doors opened.

As soon as I placed a foot into the corridor, I was greeted by Captain Anderson, a man I only knew from pictures and newspaper articels.

“Chief Malkin, welcome on board of the SSV Normandy.” I instantly put the bag down and saluted.

“It's an honor to be here, Sir!”, I answered.

Anderson smiled slightly and made a hand gesture pointing at the CIC. Then he send of a radio massage over the intercom, stating all officers should come to the communication room for a quick briefing. The CIC was impressive. The big galactic map was resting in place and it looked amazingly detailed. Many monitors were around it, but the most notable thing was the position of the captain. Clearly, it's inspired by the turian design. They tend to look over their soldiers. As soon as we passed the map a door opened and the com room could be seen.

In the room stood another man, with short, black hair and piercing blue eyes. The unknown man sized me up, nodded shortly and took a seat. I sat down as well and after a short time other men and a woman entered the room. All looked at me curious, then sat on one of the chairs. Captain Anderson stood in the middle of the room.

“After a rather surprising turn of events, I'm honored to announce our team is ready at last. Please welcome Operations Chief Victor Malkin. He'll be part of the ground team on the Normandy.”, he introduced me. I quickly nodded and the Captain continued.

“Doctor Chakwas will be in charge of the medical room. Let's all hope we won't need her services that often.”. Anderson pointed at a gray-haired woman, who smiled.

“Navigator Pressly and Flight Lieutenant Moreau are preparing our jump through the mass relay. Some of you already know them, other will meet them soon. Engineer Adams will supervise the technical team.” The Captain pointed at the man sitting across from me on the chair.

“The ground team consists of Lieutenant Alenko, Commander Shepard, OC Malkin and Corporal Jenkins. Commander Shepard will take the position as Executive Officer” He pointed at the other men in the room. I took a closer look at the XO. He was the man, who already waited in the room.

“For the shakedown run we're heading for Eden Prime. If all goes to plan, the Normandy will be transferred to the 63rd Scout Flotilla under Rear Admiral Mikhailovich. We're going to leave Arcturus as soon as the man sent by the turian hierarchy arrives. As it stands right now we'll be joined by a Spectre. Dismissed!”, the captain ended his speech and left the room.

My jaw dropped. A Spectre will be on this ship as well. I always wanted to meet one. The room emptied quickly and I was the only person besides Corporal Jenkins in the room. Said man looked at me and eventually stood up and approached with a big smile.

“So Chief Malkin, you want me to give you a quick tour through the ship?”, he said, but looked very surprised when I started laughing almost instantly.

“Please, call me Victor. And yes, I would appreciate it. I wouldn't even know where to start.”

“Oh, believe me, I got lost almost all the time, but now I know this ship like the back of my hand. I'll give you a quick tour.”, the marine answered. He seemed nice. I stood up as well, took my helmet and bag and followed Jenkins.


End file.
